Who knows what you may see at the first outdoor Miami Performance International Festival?

With any luck, you won’t have to keep too much of a look out for the first “Miami Performance International Festival” (also called “M/P 12”), as it should be right in front of you at a variety of spots across Miami-Dade County starting July 26. Throughout Downtown, the Design District and at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, 32 performance artists from all over the globe will be articulating their particular demonstrative art form, in performance, video and installation.

The festival, organized by Edge Zones Projects, curated by Christy Almaida, Tori Arpad-Cotta and Charo Oquet,  and sponsored by Miami-Dade and Miami Beach departments of cultural affairs, among others, aims to “explore the breaking down of boundaries between visual art, music, dance and poetry” through the diverse expressions of different cultures. To this end, performing artists from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain and the United States – quite a combo – will be descending on our territory for the four-day festival. The event is meant to be a dialogue of sorts, not just for the general public, but also for all the artists, both emerging and established in their fields, brought together for the first time. Local names who are participating who should ring a bell include Pip Brandt, Becky Flowers, Miseal Soto and A.G. Viva.

The performances, artworks and videos will be complemented by several art talks and workshops, from July 26 through July 29. It will all be free. It’s also a very public experimental laboratory worth participating in – and well worth producing in the unique lab that is Miami.

For more information, go to www.miamiperformancefestival.org or call 305-303-8852.